


You got light in your eyes

by elliceluella



Series: Pretty strange, maybe [2]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: De-Aged Foggy, Gen, Kid Foggy, Matt is flustered but doing his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-19
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-08-04 11:13:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16345631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elliceluella/pseuds/elliceluella
Summary: A delighted shriek cuts through the air and jerks Matt upright. Foggy’s— and Strange’s cloak is—“Matty Matty! Can we keep this friendly magic carpet? I think it likes me!” The cloak chooses that moment to take Foggy on a loop in the air and Matt says a silent prayer of thanks because if he had a weaker constitution he would’ve died of a heart attack already.





	You got light in your eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Slipping this soft, aww-adjacent thing in quickly before I let S3 murder me.
> 
>    
> This can be read as a standalone.

Matt is so screwed. The giggly five-year-old beside him seems to agree, wiping his sticky fingers (how did they even get sticky? They literally _just_ got here) on Matt’s pants while he clings to Matt with tiny fingers on his other hand. Matt lets out an exasperated sigh and tries not to think about how fragile those fingers are because that way lies anxiety and fear and a whole host of other things he can’t deal with yet. Or ever, preferably.

Stephen Strange barely takes one look at the both of them after he opens the door. “You guys sure know how to keep busy,” he says and something happens across his face which Matt suspects was a poorly concealed smirk, and quickly ushers them into the foyer.

“I’ve been expecting you, but I’d like to hear how it happened,” Strange asks once they get settled down with milk and cookies. _Magical_ milk and cookies that appeared out of thin air and earned a delighted shriek from Matt’s companion.

“A guy jumped us earlier, and after I took him out he dropped a— I don’t know, a pebble that…hummed, I guess? It sounded weird. And _someone_ ,” Matt nods to his right, “picked it up before I could warn him of said pebble’s sketchiness. And here we are.”

There’s another giggle before a crumb-crusted finger zooms its way up one small nostril.

Matt sighs. “Foggy, please don’t pick your nose. It’s…not very nice.”

Foggy wiggles in his seat but drops his hand immediately. “Okay, Matty.” He immediately reaches for Matt’s hand and Matt tries not to cringe. Strange lets slip a noise that sounds between a cough and a laugh. Kid Foggy has been extremely clingy so far. “Matty’s my bestest friend in the whole wide world!” The sudden proclamation is sweet, but loud. Matt takes it all in his stride with a smile. He can do this. Probably.

“I’m just glad he hasn’t started asking for his parents,” Matt leans over and mutters to Strange, who nods in agreement. He shudders when he thinks about Foggy crying for his mom and dad and the sheer _panic_ that would arise from that reunion.

Matt frowns slightly and pushes the thought away. “So...can you fix him? Again?”

“I don’t need fixin’,” Foggy pouts and crosses his arms. “Do I?” His voice wobbles slightly.

Matt makes an apologetic face at him. “Uh— no, I…” Matt opens and closes his mouth before he settles for “I’ll explain later, okay?” Foggy gives a stiff nod but he leans slightly into Matt.

Matt gives in and lets the littlest of smiles loose.

The doctor mutters some incantations for several minutes before going silent. Matt grits his teeth. The silence is grating. “What is it?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to let the magic run its course. It’s harmless. Well, current circumstances aside, but other than that it’s not going to do anything worse.”

Matt sighs and runs a hand over his face.

“How long?”

“Two more days, max.”

A delighted shriek cuts through the air and jerks Matt upright. Foggy’s— and Strange’s cloak is—

“Matty Matty! Can we keep this friendly magic carpet? I think it likes me!” The cloak chooses that moment to take Foggy on a loop in the air and Matt says a silent prayer of thanks because if he had a weaker constitution he would’ve died of a heart attack already.

Strange doesn’t bother holding his laughter back this time. “Don’t worry, Matt. Foggy’s perfectly safe. It won’t let any harm come to him.”

Matt settles for a nod since his mouth and the rest of his body aren’t cooperating. He manages a grimace when Foggy lets out a whoop and another shriek.

This is going to be a disaster.

*

“I wanna go to church too!” Foggy demands, pauses for a second before adding a tiny “please?” at the end when he overhears Matt’s phone call to Karen asking— okay, pleading— if she could watch him while he’s in church. Matt sighs for the two hundredth time, and sighs again when he realizes it won’t be his last. Truth be told he’s kind of terrified of what will happen if he tells Foggy no.

Karen giggles on the other end.  

“I take it you heard that?” Matt asks.

“See you boys tomorrow in church,” she says, smile evident in her voice.

“Bye bye!” Foggy yells.

Matt vows to buy her all the coffee she wants for the next six months.

*

Foggy takes to Karen immediately, and Karen, well, let’s just say it’s not an exaggeration that Matt can hear the _hearteyes—_  a term he'll no longer scoff at now that he knows it's real— pouring out of her once she gets over the initial shock of seeing Foggy like, well, this.

“But he’s such a sweetheart!” is Karen’s answer every time he suspects his face does something she disagrees with. The thing is, Matt actually agrees with her: Foggy has been surprisingly well behaved and charming, albeit clingy. After they got home from church and a really nice lunch at a pizzeria, (“Here Karen you can have the last slice, because just now the old man in the long clothes said sharing is caring!” And then, a little while later: “Why’re you taking out all the olives, Matty?” “Oh, uh. I don’t really like the taste.” “Oh. Would you like my extra pep-peppro- nice tiny ham? Because your pizza looks a little sad.”) Foggy actually made both of them _You are nice n I love you!_ cards and Karen got a little misty eyed.

It’s just, this whole thing has Matt on edge— how small and trusting and vulnerable Foggy is (he’s resisted the urge to bubble wrap Foggy on more than one occasion because _everything_ is a potential safety hazard), how Foggy looks up to him like he hung the moon, the crushing _terror_ knowing that he is solely responsible for Foggy’s safety.

The one upside, Matt figures, of not having Foggy here is complete absence of stomach-clutching laughter, complete with finger-pointing, at Matt’s cluck-worthy child-caring skills.

*

Daredevil takes a back seat because Foggy is Priority Number One and also, he’s just learning that looking after a kid is _exhausting_. Admittedly ninety percent of that exhaustion can be attributed to his worrying, but still.

Case in point: bath time. He’s been so afraid Foggy will slip and crack his head open on the bathroom tile that he covers the entire area with towels, because having an extra load of towels to wash is a small price that he will gladly pay compared to the alternative. Halfway through the bath Foggy excitedly calls out for Matt and declares, “I made the ultimate shark fin Matty! Come feel how high it is! It’s like a tower on my head!”

And then Matt’s shirt ends up getting all wet after that because things devolve into a water war but he’s laughing harder than he has in a long time.

He’s just poured the popcorn into the bowl when he hears the padding of little feet across the floor, heading out to the living room and hopping up onto the couch. Foggy’s in pajamas that Matt had to buy, along with a host of other things after they left Strange’s place.

It’s movie night for the second night in a row, which is basically tradition according to Foggy. Matt is more than happy to go with it since it seems to calm Foggy down enough that he gets sweetly drowsy and ends up with his head on Matt’s lap by the end of the movie. Well that was last night, at least.

Matt had carried him to bed and tucked him in, whispered “sweet dreams, buddy” and lingered entirely too long before he left the bedroom.

Tonight’s no different, except for what happens well after Foggy’s all cozy under Matt’s blanket and Matt drops off into a deep enough doze on his couch.

It starts with a muffled sob and a quiet little “No!” that gets louder. Matt rushes in to find Foggy thrashing in bed, his two tight fists twisted into the pillow.

“Foggy, Foggy, wake up. It’s just a bad dream, buddy,” Matt says. He smoothes a gentle hand over Foggy’s hair, damp with sweat.

“No,” Foggy whimpers again, still asleep. Matt gently shakes Foggy’s shoulder. “Foggy,” he tries again.

Foggy’s sobs quieten down as he wakes. “M...Matty?” Foggy asks.

Matt nods and does his best to muster up a reassuring smile. “You had a bad dream, you’re safe now,” he says. “I’ve got you.”

Foggy nods after he sits up and takes a moment to look around his surroundings, heartbeat gradually slowing down.

“Hey,” Matt says. “I think some warm milk and cookies sound good right about now. What do you think?”

Foggy nods again, quickly, and wipes away his tears with the back of his hand. Something squeezes tight behind Matt’s rib cage when Foggy slips his hand into Matt’s as they make their way to the kitchen.

“Want to tell me what your dream was about?” Matt asks softly once they’re into their third cookie.

Foggy pauses mid-chew to think about it. “A monster with big scary claws was chasing me in school, but then he turned into mean Gary from my class.”

“Is Gary always mean to you?”

Foggy nods. “He’s mean to everyone. Mrs Yip says we shouldn’t be mean back to him, but sometimes I wish I could.”

Matt looks down at his plate and tries to hide his smile. “Yeah, I can understand that feeling,” he says. “But I’m very proud of you for not giving in to that feeling.”

Foggy gives a pleased little huff and Matt smiles.

After Matt clears their dishes and Foggy’s back in bed, Foggy turns to Matt and asks, “Hey Matt?”  

“Hmm?”

“What did you mean yesterday when you asked Mister Magic Doctor to fix me?” Foggy’s voice is small and worried and it makes Matt’s throat catch, he hates that Foggy still remembers that conversation, that he made Foggy feel that way. “Is it because I’m a fatty? That’s what Gary calls me every time he pokes me in the tummy.” Foggy wraps his arms around his stomach. “It hurts.”

Matt’s clenches his hand into a fist. He’s had more than his fair share experiencing how cruel kids can be, and he hurts for the Foggy in front of him. It hurts to hear about the things this Foggy had to experience before growing up to become the funny, witty, brilliant person Matt admires who always let mean comments roll off like water off a duck’s back. To witness the un-fun origin story of how be humor eventually becomes armor.

“Well, he’s not gonna hurt you anymore,” Matt says, his words raspy with the need to protect and soothe.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, buddy,” Matt says in a soft voice, reaching out to brush Foggy’s hair from his forehead and tuck them behind his ear. “And I’m sorry for— that’s not what I meant. You’re perfect just the way you are.” His fingers tremble where they’re resting on Foggy’s shoulder.

“Okay Matty.” Foggy loosens his grip on his blanket and scoots down so his head’s fully resting on the pillow. “I know I’m s’posed to be brave but...” Foggy chews his lip, blows out a breath that sounds like embarrassment, his face a brilliant ball of warmth as he asks, “Can you stay?”

Matt swallows, hard, completely overwhelmed by the simplicity and honesty of Foggy’s question. “Of course, Foggy,” he says. “You know that me staying doesn’t make you any less brave, right?” Foggy happily hums his assent as Matt tucks him and climbs in next to him, immediately wiggling closer to Matt and curling up against his chest.

It takes Matt a good few minutes of steady breathing before that tightness behind his ribs fades. That ache borne out of affection, however, remains.

*

Matt’s completely bowled over when he takes Foggy to the park the next day, because he’s forgotten about the excitement that dissipates after childhood. Foggy describes everything through childlike eyes, and for the first time in his life Matt basks in a different but still familiarly wondrous World According to Foggy Nelson.

The light drizzle earlier makes everything feel fresh: the light scent of flowers blooming amongst the smell of wet concrete, that slightly heady petrichor, birds chirping; and while Matt’s senses paint him a picture, Foggy paints him a _masterpiece_. He’s excited about everything, from “The leaves look like they have shiny diamonds!” to “Ooh! Can we wait until the snail crosses over to the grass? I don’t want people to step on it.”

It’s the last place he’d expect to meet Josie on her day off but there she is, walking towards them. Matt’s too engrossed with Foggy having fun and listening to the activities around him that he doesn’t sense her presence until it’s too late. She’s headed their direction and there’s no way for them to make a detour without looking suspicious.

He knows the exact moment when she recognizes him, clocks the way she grunts in quiet surprise, and braces for impact. “Matt,” she says, by way of greeting. Classic Josie: always straight to the point, no time for bullshit.

“Josie! Uh, hi,” Matt says, stoically ignoring the thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Josie snorts. “I could say the same,” she says, before tilting her head to study Foggy. “So who’s this? Someone making you pay your baby daddy dues finally?”

Matt startles at her question. “Oh, I’m uh— kid watching for a friend.” Ha, _kid watching_.

“Y’know,” Josie says, in that squinty-eyed way Foggy’s described a thousand times when she suspects a customer’s brought in outside alcohol into her establishment, “He looks awfully familiar.”

“Oh, yeah, he gets that quite a—” And Matt knows Foggy has been positively bouncing at his side, watching this whole exchange with eager eyes, because he chooses that moment to step forward and stick his hand out.

“Hi! I’m—“

“H-Hey who wants ice cream?” Matt asks, entirely too loud and too high pitched, because there’s no way Hell’s Kitchen has two people named Foggy who also hang with Matt Murdock.

Foggy's reaction is instantaneous. “Yay!”

God bless children and their affinity for sweet treats.

*

By his estimation, Foggy should be returning to his adult self by tomorrow so when Foggy asks if they can build a blanket fort that night, Matt helps him to build one that even adult Foggy, critically acclaimed expert of pillow and blanket forts, would be impressed by.

So much so that he takes a few pictures of it with Foggy sitting proudly under and sticking two thumbs up.

*

Matt tries staying up just so he can feed his curiosity and witness Foggy’s ‘growth’ back, but all too soon he wakes to an all too familiar groan.

“Why—” Foggy starts, pressing his palm to his eye.

“Foggy.” Matt sits bolt upright and listens hard; he’s already got Strange on speed dial just in case anything goes sideways but everything sounds normal so far. Good. “How do you feel?”

“Why am I in a blanket fort, and...” Foggy picks up the stuffed elephant Matt had gotten him when this all started, the one thing that was never out of Foggy’s grasp for too long. “Sleeping with this— admittedly cute, not a word, Murdock— elephant here?”

“Uh,” Matt clears his throat the same way he did all those years back when he didn’t know how to ask if Foggy was okay with him folding Foggy’s underwear when he did the laundry for the both of them.  
  
Foggy tenses. “ _Matt_.”

Matt’s face heats and lets loose a rogue twitch. Damn it. He silently hands his phone to Foggy. “Take a look at the photos.”

Stunned silence stretches on for an uncomfortable length of time.

“Noooo,” Foggy moans softly as he continues staring at the pictures of them last night and a few selfies Karen had taken with Matt’s phone before realizing whose phone she was actually using, and Matt hastily recounts everything that happened over the past few days. “Why does weird magic shit keep happening to me?”

“Probably the universe’s way of balancing out the fact that you’re the normal one in this relationship?” he asks, laughing at Foggy’s mock outrage and gamely takes a pillow to the face.

Later, after they’re back at Nelson and Murdock and Karen’s gushing at Foggy about how much of a delight he was and showing Foggy _more_ pictures, Matt quietly heads to his office and puts the elephant in a corner on his desk. He strokes one of its ears and allows himself one moment to smile at the memory of pure delight in Foggy’s laughter, before joining Karen and Foggy in the foyer again.

“ _Videos_ , Karen? Really?”

“I’m sorry Foggy, but look, you were _so_ cute describing the card you made us! I _had_ to!”

It’s a warm, silly moment: perfect in its simplicity, and Matt’s perfectly content to let his smile speak for him as he soaks all of it in.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Talking Heads’ This Must Be The Place.
> 
> Please come hold me on [Tumblr](ellicelluella.tumblr.com), I will need it after finishing this season. We can all hold each other ♥


End file.
